The old system of construction using vertical posts--studs--and horizontal members--sill plates and top plates--to the faces of which wall panels are nailed or screwed has been replaced with systems which allow the panels be be mounted within the outlines of the posts and horizontal members, in order to save valuable space. A typical such system, as described in German published patent application No. 2,223,457, has posts and horizontal members formed with longitudinal grooves in which flat mounting strips are seated once the posts and horizontal members are fixed in place, with their grooves end-to-end and coplanar. The wall panels are then screwed to the mounting strips or secured by means of appropriate moldings. Such an arrangement is particularly handy in modular construction.
This system is never sturdy enough to support large heavy panels. When greatly stressed the mounting strips can be pushed out of their grooves, so that the panel becomes disattached. Obviously, this is extremely dangerous, so such a system has only found use only in relatively light-duty and normally temporary construction.